Finance Bill Sub-Committee

LordsSelectest. 01 Jun 2003Email ↗● Actively Monitored
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Sessions analysed6
Commitments3
Positions12
Recommendations21

Latest Signals

13 Oct 2025DOTAS criminal offence seen as too broad for criminal lawInstitute of Chartered Accountants in England and WalesConcern
“[Speaker: Lindsey Wicks] I am happy to start. The regime was not designed with criminal offences in mind. The hallmarks that are used to decide whether a disclosure is made are drafted to be deliberately uncertain, and that is to encourage disclosure. That means that they are not sufficiently certain to apply in a criminal context. They can apply to reasonable tax planning that happens to fall within a hallmark, so it does not have to be mass-marketed tax avoidance.”
13 Oct 2025Strict-liability offence may chill legitimate tax adviceInstitute of Chartered Accountants in England and WalesConcern
13 Oct 2025Prosecution will be difficult if promoters are offshoreChartered Institute of TaxationConcern
13 Oct 2025Over-disclosure could undermine DOTAS and PIIChartered Institute of TaxationConcern
13 Oct 2025Witnesses disagree on whether market-distortion warnings are exaggeratedEYDisagreement
20 Oct 2025APR/BPR calculations and valuations are not easyChartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)Concern
20 Oct 2025Valuations and HMRC challenge capacity may not matchAssociation of Taxation Technicians (ATT)Concern
20 Oct 2025Six-month timetable seen as too short for pension IHTSociety of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)Concern

Recent Sessions

View all (6)
08 Dec 2025Finance Bill: pensions IHT and APR/BPR reforms
3 commit5 pos2 concern1 rec1 leg
10 Nov 2025Inheritance tax reform and tax-policy consultation
5 pos6 concern3 rec
03 Nov 2025Pensions IHT: PR burdens and levy alternatives
2 pos5 concern3 rec
27 Oct 2025BPR/APR changes: family firms and farms
4 concern4 rec1 disag
20 Oct 2025IHT on pensions and APR/BPR reform
7 concern6 rec
13 Oct 2025DOTAS criminal offence and tax advice risks
4 concern4 rec1 disag

Recent Commitments

View all (3)

Recent Recommendations

View all (21)

Frequent Witnesses

HM Treasury1× · 9 insights
Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax)1× · 9 insights
The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA)1× · 5 insights
One Essex Court1× · 5 insights
National Farmers’ Union1× · 5 insights
Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT)1× · 4 insights

About this committee

This Lords select sub-committee examines the Finance Bill and related tax legislation, focusing on provisions that affect individuals, businesses and trusts. The Finance Bill Sub-Committee operates within the House of Lords and takes oral evidence from government officials, tax practitioners, and policy experts to scrutinise proposed changes. Members conduct detailed inquiries into specific tax measures before they become law. Recent sessions have concentrated on inheritance tax reform, particularly the government's changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief affecting family farms and smaller enterprises. The sub-committee has also examined the interaction between inheritance tax and pension taxation, exploring how planned reliefs will operate under different scheme structures and personal representatives' responsibilities. A further inquiry addressed disclosure of tax avoidance schemes regulations and offences in tax advising, reflecting broader parliamentary concern with tax compliance and professional standards.